Murphy’s Law, written by Barbara Murphy, appears monthly in The Golden Times. The column represents the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of the publisher.

Filmmakers Who Sparked Riots, Murders Not Protected By Free Speech President Obama has promised that the tragic murders of our ambassador to Libya and three of his aides in the Sept. 11 Benghazi street riots will not go unpunished. “We’ll track down the killers and bring them to justice,” the President declared. In fact, the FBI has already been dispatched to Libya to help the government there find and prosecute the murderers. I applaud the President’s resolve and the decision to let the FBI help catch the killers — a sentiment I’m sure every American shares. But even if the Benghazi killers are caught, others responsible for the murders apparently will go scot free — even though our government knows their names and where they live. I’m talking about the vermin who made the movie that set off fatal riots in Benghazi and later throughout the entire Muslim world. The film purportedly mocks the Prophet Mohammed, and has sparked fatal protests throughout the Middle East. As of Sept. 26, the number of dead was put at 47. The rogue movie has not only cost lives, it also has seriously damaged American efforts to improve relations with the Muslim world. Unless they are brainless as well as malevolent, the filmmakers had to know release of their movie (described as “nutty” and “wacko” by people who have seen it) would result in mass riots and the death of innocents. But nobody in this country is calling for the filmmakers to be prosecuted. Instead, our leaders insist that the filmmakers are protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech. That’s hogwash. Freedom of speech does not include making a movie that is guaranteed to cause bloodshed. What they have done is a criminal act because it qualifies among, other things, as incitement to riot and conspiracy to commit murder. The filmmakers are apparently also guilty of fraud. According to an actress who appeared in the film, she and the other performers were told that the movie being made was titled “Dessert Warriors” and was based on an ancient dessert adventure story. Speaking on ABC, the actress insisted that neither Mohammed or Muslims were ever mentioned during the shooting of the film. She said she and other cast members only learned after the film was distributed that their voices had been dubbed over with voices speaking the inflammatory words that have enraged the Muslim world. The actress said she and all the other performers are beginners in the acting business and were paid $500 each for their work. All of the cast, except her, has gone into hiding — fearful for their lives. The actress said she alone has gone public because she feels the truth should be made known. Most Americans seem mystified that a stupid movie, even if it is about a religious figure, would engender riots and deaths throughout a sizeable part of the world. They remember when some years back an avant-garde American artist produced a “work of art” which consisted of a crucifix immersed in a bottle of urine. No one rioted over that. All of which only proves that we are an essentially secular society in which religious fervor is considered an exercise in bad taste. It’s different in the Muslim world. As Middle East experts have pointed out, we’ve got to come to grips with the fact that this part of the world is not a secular place. Islam is passionately cherished by its adherents and blasphemy is a capital offense. Many Muslims believe the U.S. is out to destroy Islam and they are convinced that books, cartoons and movies mocking Islam have government backing. In this case, Muslims rioted because they considered the film blasphemous and were convinced it had the backing of the U.S. government. This stupid movie has created a bloody, awful mess that has fanned the flames of anti-Americanism that already has a strong grip on the Muslim world. The smartest thing our government could do to persuade Muslims that the U.S. has no intention of destroying Islam would be to prosecute the makers of this film and enact legislation that forbids the production of any work intended to produce riots and murder. There are limits to free speech. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater where there is no fire and you shouldn’t be allowed to blaspheme. That’s a hate crime. (Editor’s Note: After this column was written, one of the filmmakers was arrested and held for parole violations unrelated to the making of the film.) * Barbara Murphy, 79, writes about controversial issues each month.

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